Google Analytics Premium Feature Tour: 50 Custom Variables

In Google Analytics Premium, the number of custom variables that are available has been dramatically increased from 5 (in Google Analytics Standard) to 50! We’ve helped many clients using custom variables, to both;

increase the depth of data that can be collected

and to enhance the capabilities of segmentation in GA.

On many sites, it is consistently a struggle to keep inside the 5 custom variable limit.

The GA Premium 50 custom variable increase opens the door to richer data analysis possibilities that will help you better target, optimize, and convert your visitors.

Code Requirements

Once you are on the Google Analytics Premium platform, you can begin using up to 50 custom variables via the same code you would currently use. And instead of being capped at 5 custom variables, you can now go up to 50. For example, to track a visitor-level custom variable in slot #42 (the answer to life) for when a member logs into your site and they are on your platinum service-level plan, you can fire the following code:

_gaq.push([‘_setCustomVar’, 42, ‘member-type’, ‘platinum’, 1]);

Extended Custom Variable Usage

There are two methods to leverage the custom variables in slots 1-50 in Google Analytics Premium reports.

Custom Reports

When you are creating a custom report in Google Analytics Premium, using the interactive report builder, you can reference custom variable keys (names) and values in any of the 50 slots. Another great feature is that you can leverage the Custom Report Filter setting to filter based on the name/values of any custom variable.

Advanced Segments

You can very easily create an advanced segment in Google Analytics that leverages the above mentioned custom variable #42. After you’ve created this advanced segment, it will then be saved for future usage and it can be applied to both standard and custom reports that you’ve created.

Custom Variable Architecture & Planning

As you add additional custom variable slot usage to your website, you’ll want to develop a slot matrix that lists what custom variables are in place, a description, and the scope (visitor, session, or page-level).

With proper planning, you’ll have a clear guide to expand to additional Custom Variables as needed and you are less likely to run into an issue where you overwrite the value of a variable.

Examples of Custom Variable Usage

Page-level

Page Type (member / guest) OR any other page attributes

Page Category/Section

Session-level

Member Signed Up

Member Upgraded Existing Account

Visitor-level

Member Level

Newsletter Subscriber

The above are 6 common, real-world examples of using custom variables. Previously, 5 CVs were not enough, so we’re glad to have the ability of using up to 50 custom variables now!

Helpful Tip: Instead of using session-level custom variables, you can often just use event tracking and leverage it to create advanced segments. This may save you a slot. You should be careful though of firing both a pageview and event tracking when a page loads (especially if that is a potential landing page) because it will affect your bounce rate and other metrics. UPDATE: As pointed out in the comments by Analytics Ninja, events are hit-level data and more closely align with page-level custom vars. Due to the way that advanced segments work in GA (targets the entire session), you can use them in advanced segments to segment against all sessions that contained a specific _trackEvent call.

Is it correct that the 45 extra vars aren’t available in the API yet (i.e. at the time of this post)?

Re: Substituting events for session level custom vars — Events are hit level data, as such they are much more similar to a page level custom var (almost the same thing) not a session level var. While it is true the GA sessionizes all hit level data in advanced segments, likening _trackEvent to session level vars is inaccurate.

Of course, all implementation considerations will differ from case to case.

That is correct. The API does not yet support var 6-50. You must use custom reports or advanced segments to leverage data in these slots.

Great point about _trackEvent not really being a session-level variable. I’ve noted this in the post. We just tend to use them as such due to how advanced segments in GA work.

Thanks!

Peter O’Neill

Hi Joe,

I was sent your way by Kayden. You have made some excellent points although as I replied to Kayden, I think the challenge for companies is to make sense & use the data they already have rather than capture more details. But let an analyst loose on a business requirements sheet (or ask a team to list everything they might want to know) and all 50 custom variables will definitely get used – there are never enough custom variables in SiteCat and I think they offer 150+.

You have made a great point regarding the need for a Slot Matrix to record Custom Variables that have been implemented. I have created one previously that also includes sections for Events, Filters and Profiles. Agree on the tip for using events instead of Visit CVs, I do the exact same thing.

As Vice President, Analytics at Blast Analytics & Marketing, Joe leads a team of talented, analytics consultants responsible for helping clients understand and take action on their vast amounts of data, to continuously improve and EVOLVE their organizations. With 20 years of experience in analytics and digital marketing, Joe offers a high-level of knowledge and guidance to clients across all industries. He is an expert in all major analytics platforms including Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, as well as various tag management systems such as Tealium and Adobe Launch. He also consults on data visualization, data governance, and data quality strategies. Having extensive expertise in many areas, has enabled Joe to become a well known thought leader and speak at industry events such as Tealium’s Digital Velocity series. Joe remains on the pulse of various information technology, programming languages, tools and services, keeping Blast and its clients on the leading edge.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn. Joe Christopher has written 42 posts on the Web Analytics Blog.